12.5  AUSTRALIAN EMPIRES  There are normally twelve players at the start. The starting positions are Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth, Alice Springs, Hobart, Auckland, Christchuch and West Timor.

12.6  INITIAL AREAS   At the start of the game in World Empires each country controls one "home" area (the one in the list above), two areas adjacent to their home area, and a couple more adjacent to any of the first three. In Medieval Empires and Australian Empires each country controls one home area and two areas adjacent to it. In European Empires all countries control their home areas, and up to two others adjacent (the minor countries may control fewer).

12.7  INITIAL STRENGTHS   Your "home" area contains four armies and two forts, and the others contain three armies and one fort, except that in each case if the area is coastal then you get one less army but one extra naval strength. If your initial areas are separated by sea areas then you get another extra naval strength.

12.8  INITIAL RESERVES   In World Empires each country starts with 20 BPs in the treasury, 5 armies in their army reserve, an air force level of 5 and a navy level of 3. 
In Medieval Empires and European Empires there are no air forces and each country starts with 20 BPs in their treasury, 10 armies in their reserve a navy level of 3.

12.9  UNOWNED AREAS   The unowned areas start with a random distribution of population and armies.

12.10  BALANCE   The start positions are not balanced in terms of initial population or geographical advantage. If you think an opponent has a better starting position, then it's up to you and the other players to do something about it. "Empires" is a game of player interaction, and you should be able to convert a geographical or military handicap to a political or diplomactic advantage.



13  DIPLOMACY

13.1  INTRODUCTION   Most of the diplomatic activity in Empires is informal, being just a matter of what the players say to each other and what agreements they make and break. But there are some formal rules to encourage the process and to provide more to talk about, and this section of the rules will probably be expanded in the future. The formal rules are concerned with the ratings in the Diplomatic Status report (see 10.7).
Note: The routine that makes up orders for non-player countries includes "threat" and "target" assessments that are used when it's deciding who looks dangerous and who looks vulnerable, and these include elements for diplomatic ratings. Non-player empires will remember who's been attacking them and will remember who their friends are (were). It's only one factor, however, and if you look like easy pikcings they're still likely to be tempted.

13.2  TREASURY BONUS   There is a bonus paid into your treasury each turn of 1 BP for each "friend" you have in the game (according to the diplomatic status report). The
represents normal interntational trade and influence.
13.3  FRIENDS ACTION   The FRIENDS action attempts to restore two empires to "friendly" status, depending on their diplomatic status values. You make a bid (in treasury BPs) and if this is more than the difference in status, then it succeeds. It is unilateral (either of you can do it, and it doesn't matter which - there being no disadvantage involved in someone being friendly - it doesn't stop you attacking them if you feel like it).
Format [ FRIENDS ] [ blank ] [ WHO ] [ HOW MUCH ].

13.4  FOUL ACTION   The FOUL action a spy action, that spends treasury BPs to foul up the relations between other empires (ie. make their respective diplomatic status values worse). This applies to the empire in which your spy is located and another empire that you nominate. The only purpose is to make it more difficult to restore friendly relations when they're broken, and to influence the dropout empires.
Format [ FOUL ] [ blank ] [ WHO ] [ HOW MUCH ].